Vancouver police are investigating after a fight at a downtown nightclub claimed one man’s life early Saturday morning.

Kalwinder Thind, 23, was working at the Cabana nightclub at 1159 Granville St. when the fight broke out just before 2:30 a.m. He stepped in to break up the fight, police said, but was injured and died in hospital later in the morning.

Thind had just started working at the club after leaving his previous job selling cars at Richmond Chrysler. His friends knew him as Kris, and say he was a carefree, fun guy.

“Full of life” was the phrase sales manager Danny Mouro used to describe his former coworker. “He was one of those guys who came to work with a big smile on his face, made everybody comfortable, making jokes and having fun … Just a great guy to have around.”

Mouro said the staff at Richmond Chrysler set up a small memorial in one of their offices on Saturday when they heard the news of Thind’s death.

“Definitely he will be greatly missed by a lot of people,” he said.

Police arrested several individuals at the scene, but are still investigating. No charges have been laid, and police do not believe there was any gang involvement.

“It seems like it was an alcohol-fueled fight,” said Vancouver police Sgt. Jason Robillard of the fight. “Any time somebody tries to break up a fight and is murdered like this, we definitely have all hands on deck.”

Anyone who witnessed the fight or has information about the incident is asked to call detectives at 604-717-2500 or to call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8478.

The incident echoes past episodes of violence on Granville Street, including the murder of Rachel Davis in 2004, but police say public safety on the street has improved since then.

“We’ve come into quite a stride in terms of how we handle the entertainment district from a policing perspective,” Robillard said.

Part of the equation is organizations like Barwatch, which trains the staff of bars and clubs in downtown Vancouver on how to deal with situations like fights.

Barwatch chair Curtis Robinson called Thind’s death “tragic,” particularly because he was doing “exactly what was expected of him” in the situation: Trying to de-escalate the conflict.

With files from CTV Vancouver’s Breanna Karstens-Smith